I have now been able, through some very kind people (hi, Robin, Karen and, especially, Mark) to actually complete a set of the collectible cards. This was not easy and I was very lucky to find someone selling copies of the ultra-rare Fourth Doctor and Davros cards (they only had one of each, though!). I say that I have a full set, but I now discover that some of the blue-border 'Time' cards have a printing fault so that instead of the word 'Time' appearing on the front, just the letters 'me' appear. I've not seen this myself, but doubtless it will drive those who want to collect every variation insane in the future.

I picked up the two ultra-rare cards at a rather excellent Doctor Who convention held in North Wales at the start of August. Doctor Who conventions are strange affairs where events tend to start off on time but which soon degenerate as the amount of alcohol consumed increases. By the Saturday night, you are wondering where you are, and Sunday morning does not exist.

This convention, called Icon for reasons best known to the organisers, was very well planned. The panels all started roughly on time and the guest list was staggeringly good. Companions Elisabeth Sladen, Wendy Padbury, Nicola Bryant, Frazer Hines, Sophie Aldred and Caroline John were all there as was 'the Brig', Nicholas Courtney, ex-Producer John Nathan-Turner and Doctors Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy. Everyone seemed to have a good time and, despite some behind the scenes rumblings, everything ran smoothly. There was a dealers room, packed with tables groaning beneath the weight of books, magazines, toys, videos and many other forms of Doctor Who related entertainment. There was also an autograph room which a permanent queue of fans kept busy throughout the weekend, and a video room where classic episodes could be enjoyed.

One nice thing about conventions are the snippets of information that can be picked up. Frazer Hines was enthusiastic about his forthcoming autobiography, Films, Farms and Fillies, to be published by Boxtree on 28 October as a £5.99 paperback and Sophie Aldred was positively effervescent at being chosen to co-present a new ITV Saturday morning children's show called Wow which starts around the end of August. Nicola Bryant is working hard on a new series of The Biz while Caroline John was in the middle of recording two new thrillers for BBV in their PROBE series of video dramas. The two tapes are to be released later this year by Reeltime Pictures and are called Unnatural Selection and The Ghosts of Winterborne. These dramas are perhaps of interest to Who fans as they feature Caroline John's character of Liz Shaw from the programme's seventh season heading up a series of X-Files-like investigations into the paranormal and the unexplained. One of these adventures is already available to buy in the shops, The Devil of Winterborne, and is well worth a look.

Keeping up to date with new Doctor Who merchandise is not at all easy, but here goes with the first of what will hopefully be a regular series of updates. The BBC video of The Green Death is now pencilled in for a November release but nearer to appearing in the shops are a range of new key-rings and a Doctor Who mug from Downpace, some 'Gallifrey', Davros and TARDIS belt buckles from a company called Ultimate, Mayfair Creative are producing a Doctor Who mouse mat for your PC and MBI, who released the magnificent Doctor Who chess set, are adding four new characters from the recent TV Movie to their already extensive range of figures. The new characters are the eighth Doctor, Doctor Grace Holloway, the Master and Chang Lee. Cornerstone Communications are also releasing a fourth trading card set in September. This time it consists of ten, 9 card subsets (one per Doctor, UNIT, Villains and Dimensions in Time) as well as seven Doctor foils (and an eighth Doctor foil with the Factory Set).

On the book front, Virgin Publishing have a packed schedule towards the end of this year with new novels and factual books appearing every month. They are trying to go out on a high note as next May, BBC Worldwide Publishing takes over the licence to publish Doctor Who fiction. September sees publication of a paperback edition of Doctor Who - Companions by David J. Howe and Mark Stammers, while the new novels are The Death of Art by Simon Butcher-Jones (a New Adventure) and Twilight of the Gods by Christopher Bulis (a Missing Adventure).

It is sad to see Virgin lose the licence to publish Doctor Who fiction as the company is the natural successor, through various mergers and buy-outs, to the original pioneer of Doctor Who books, Allan Wingate/ Universal Tandem, who first started publishing a range of novelisations in 1973 under the Target imprint. Virgin have also played their part in keeping the Doctor Who franchise alive through the early nineties when the programme was no longer in production.

I certainly tip my hat - or would, if I wore one - to them and hope that the BBC range of books is every bit as popular and comprehensive as fans have come to expect, and demand.

Time will tell.